Portfolio pieces WIP- help please

Nyrryl Cadiz

I’ve been doing more sketches. This one’s from “The Legend of the Mango” a local folklore here in the Philippines. The story tells of a kind girl who has a literal heart of gold which shines whenever she helps others. One day, when a plague of locust devastates her village. She drives them away by using her heart as a beacon, leading the insects away. The girl never returned but one day the barren trees started to bear golden, heart-shaped fruits. At that moment, the girl’s mother knew her daughter finally came home.

I love that story. Anyway, here they are.

@Nyrryl-Cadiz
What a wonderful story! I love the way you're framing both spreads with the mangoes and insects! Very lovely work

Nyrryl Cadiz

Hi everyone! Here’s an update.

Beautiful! You did a great job capturing that heartfelt moment!

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Alicja-W thanks! That means a lot.

Gary Wilkinson

@Nyrryl-Cadiz beautiful painting. Great composition, color and story can't really say much else apart from that

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Gary-Wilkinson thanks!

MichaelaH

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Looks so nice, lovely with the light, nice colors

Nyrryl Cadiz

@MichaelaH thank you!

Nyrryl Cadiz

Hi, everyone! I’ve been working on new pieces. Here are some rough sketches.

Nyrryl Cadiz

Here’s an update. I want to finish the line work tonight.

Kuarahy

@Nyrryl-Cadiz I absolutely love this!

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Kuarahy Thanks. This one is of the folklore Ibong Adarna( The Adarna Bird) which is about this bird which can cure all sickness through its song. It’s hard to catch though because if you hear its song it can also send you into a deep slumber and if its droppings fall on you, you’ll turn into stone.

Here’s another update everyone!

RobinCampbellArt

Hi- @Nyrryl-Cadiz
From the original Mango Legend sketch, you moved into painting your work well...the ghost girl is perfect. I like this image a lot. I just went through a portfolio workshop and the faculty that gave feed back asked us to think about showing characters in series, usually three. I saw a second sketch of your character in a field. Ideally there should be a third. I hope you post a third series sketch for the Legend of the Mango set.

I’m also wondering if the aim for your portfolio is for getting picture book work, if so you should be thinking about open areas where potential text could go in all your images.

I love your painting style....are you working digitally? If so what kind of brushes are you using.

Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff. Love it

Nyrryl Cadiz

Here’s another update!

Nyrryl Cadiz

@RobinCampbellArt Hi, Robin! I’m very glad you like my art. Thanks. I do have a third piece for the Legend of the Mango series but that’ll have to go in the back burner for now. I was adviced to beef up the variety in portfolio. So for now, I’m more focused on adding numerous scenes preferably Filipino culture inspired. Yes, I do aim in getting into the children’s book market. I also agree on leaving space for the text in your illustration. I try to incorporate that in my pieces. However, some of my next pieces may or may not have that space though. Hopefully the illustration itself can carry the story.

As for my brushes, I use fairly simple brushes. I only use four actually. I hate using a ton of brushes. They’re just too tedious and impractical for my taste. The brushes I use are:
Hard Airbrush
Soft Air Brush
8B Pencil Brush
Chalk Brush

I look forward seeing your work too.

@Nyrryl-Cadiz
I really like this composition! And I especially like the way you're able to express age without breaking style. It's such an important skill, one that I definitely need to work on, so it really shows how much work you put into your craft. Can't wait to see how you color it!

Nyrryl Cadiz

@Alicja-W thanks!

Nyrryl Cadiz

Hi, everyone! Just doing some color comps. I was told to use more vibrant colors in my piece so I’m going all out.

MichaelaH

I like the strong colors